Bookmark Newsletter - Summer 2023 Edition

From the Dean's Desk

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Greetings University Library Friends, Supporters, and Colleagues,

This Spring we held our first annual (3 years in the making) Indiana Libraries and Literacy Symposium, welcoming school, public, and academic librarians, educators, policy makers, and community members from across Indiana to learn more about the deep intersection between Indiana libraries and literacy, in all its forms. The event was by all accounts a success, made possible through the generous support of the Herbert Simon Family Foundation.

The symposium couldn't come at a more pivotal time as both literacy and the freedom to read are at the forefront of librarian, educator, parent, and student minds in Indiana and across the nation. The intersection of libraries and literacy is foundational to each, and extends far beyond the literacy of reading, comprehension, and application of the written word. Libraries in all their forms, from the media centers of our K-12 schools, our cherished public libraries, academic libraries, and specialty libraries like the Law, Medical, Art, and Dentistry libraries on this campus and the Indiana State Library just a few blocks away, all provide access to essential space, tools, and expert services that enhance Hoosier's life-long literacy development. I have a vision for this annual symposium, with each year highlighting another literacy that libraries support. I see a year where financial literacy is at the fore and we hear from the Gary Public Library who holds a free financial literacy course called Get Fin Lit, the 2nd and 4th Thursday of every month. 

I envision a year focusing on visual literacy and visual thinking strategies, where educators with Newfields, Indiana's art museum use art to develop critical thinking, communication, and visual literacy skills in students of all ages. 

I envision a year where we ask Ben Davis High School Media Specialists to share how their Library's digital MakerSpace supports students' ability to navigate our digital world combining reading, writing, technical skills and critical thinking. We know these skills are necessary not only for workforce development but also as they relate to digital forms of data literacy and news literacy, which are quickly becoming direly critical skills for interpreting our often overwhelming media landscape.

Indiana's academic libraries are key agents in teaching college students metaliteracy described by the Association of College and Research Libraries in Framework for Information Literacy in Higher Education as, "a renewed vision of information literacy; an overarching set of abilities in which students are both consumers and creators of information and who can participate successfully in collaborative spaces. Metaliteracy demands behavioral, affective, cognitive, and metacognitive engagement within a complex, dynamic information ecosystem" (2016). I've been considering AI a great deal the past few months with both apprehension and intrigue. Here's where I've settled this, at least for this week: if humans are to begin to place more common cognitive responses in the hands of machines then deep and purposeful development of our metaliteracy skills is core to our humanistic survival.

Equally important to a thriving population, health literacy and you guessed it, libraries are engaged here too. The Indianapolis Public Library has a Social Worker on staff, supporting community access to necessary social services including mental health. They also offer classes like, "Eating Well on a Budget." Many rural public libraries are now serving as telehealth locations. To quote Dr. Todd Burkhardt of the IU Center for Rural Engagement, "The great thing about libraries, they are a community hub, they're a trusted hub. There's no stigma at all associated with going to a library. "

Last year, in support of student civic literacy, IUPUI University Library became the first on campus voting location in our campus history. We also partnered with an IUPUI student group to host a Voting Party  where students could register to vote and learn how to use a voting machine. I am extremely proud of this accomplishment.

This year's symposium focused on the literacy of reading. We heard from a panel of family literacy experts including: Diane Rogers, Media Specialist at Ben Davis Ninth Grade Center, Vice-President of the Indiana Library Federations; Ashley Mack-Jackson, Professor, Butler University School of Education, Co-founder of Word as Bond, and Poet; Suzanne Walker, Director of the Indiana State Library Young Readers Center; Jessica Neeb-Smith, Herbert Simon Family Early Literacy Specialist, Indianapolis Public Library; and Lindsey Walters, Elementary District Media Specialist Elkhart Community Schools, Indiana Library Federation Read Aloud Selector.

Indiana Secretary of Education, Dr. Katie Jenner shared about State and Lilly Endowment funded Science of Reading initiative. I believe in this initiative's ambitious and critically important goal that by 2027, 95% of third grade Hoosier students will be reading proficiently. I also believe that Indiana libraries providing free access to engaging library materials where each student can find themselves reflected will make this exciting goal possible. The presentation from Dr. Mary Biagini, whose work in part focuses on the positive connection between school libraries and children's reading scores, highlights the K-12 librarian's role in literacy attainment. 

Libraries across Indiana are taking up the mantel to ensure their communities' engagement in the life-long development of multiple literacies. I look forward to annually celebrating Indiana Libraries and Literacy. For a recap of the event, visit the Resource Page. 

If you have interest in supporting the development of 2024's Indiana Libraries and Literacy Symposium, focusing on Civic Literacy, please reach out at klpalmer@iu.edu.